It is Singapore’s National Day today. On this day 51 years ago, Singapore left the Malay Federation to become a sovereign republic. Singapore had gained independence from Britain earlier in 1963 and joined the Malay Federation but the Malayan parliament voted unanimously to expel Singapore from the federation. Hours later the Singapore parliament passed the Republic of Singapore Independance Act, proclaiming Singapore as a sovereign nation.
What better to celebrate our Nationhood than to run through the part of Singapore where I had trained in as an infantryman many years ago in service of my proud country.
Mandai and its surrounds has been army training ground for years and for many of my generation, the rubber plantation and the hills had been where we practiced fire and movement drills, open terrain topography and route marches. Most guys will remember Point 265.
Point 265 was the hill I chose to run to today. Alas, I got my bearings wrong and missed it. I should have taken a later turn.
So where is Guess where #24? It’s a beach on Upper Seletar Reservoir, close to the Mandai Zoo. This point was accessed from Mandai Park Connector, about 4.5 km from the Sembawang Road junction. You could also access this point from the Zoo or from Woodlands Avenue 12. There are no water points except at the Mandai Zoo so if you want to explore this route, be advised to take along a bottle.
Point 265 is across Mandai Road from Guess Where #24. I had thought I could access it via the Mandai Park Comnector. But there was broken ground that I could not traverse safely so I decided to try again another day, this time via Lorong Asmara.
I had relied on outdated knowledge to navigate to my goal. What I should have done was to get curent information on the lie of the land before setting off. I would have achieved my goal of visiting Point 265 today. Life lesson learned today is obtain information that is current and reliable otherwise your endeavours would be for nought.
But it was a great run all the same.
The lonely road to a serene spot